The mother of a drug addict living on the streets has watched her son spiral into the depths of drug abuse and homelessness, and now she has told her story.

Speaking to Wales Online, the mother has asked not to be identified. She is urging people not to give money or clothes direct to the homeless - but to help the charities that try to work in their best interests.

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I am the mother of a homeless 22 year old in Cardiff. He is a drug user and has been, unknowingly to us, since the age of about 13 years old when older teenagers gave him cannabis.

I will not say that his life was perfect as no family life is but he most definitely came from a loving home albeit a single parent home but he had grandparents, aunts and uncles that loved him.

A mum is begging people NOT to give her homeless heroin addict son money, food or clothes. Stock image (Image: MEDIA WALES)

He now has cousins that he hasn't even seen. He used to go mountain biking, loved swimming in the sea, had ski holidays and holidays with her relatives.

Things went really wrong during his teenage years but he refused councelling, wouldn't engage fully with CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), nor would he engage with school, volunteering or training.

Over the years I have had him call me to say he is going to end his life, tell me on Christmas day that he is a heroin user.

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I have collected him when he has been in no control of his own body on MKAT, sleeping tablets, Spice and Heroin you name it.

I have been in regular contact with his youth offending workers, probation workers, drug workers, teachers.... collected him when he got released from prison.

I then had to drive of when he walked away from me telling me he was living on the streets. My son to this day will not admit that he is a drug user.

He will call other users crack heads or druggies but he will not accept that he too is one of them. He talks about how some of them look like zombies but he too looks like a zombie.

I have had to learn to block the pain to try to not worry every day. To trust that my street wise son can and will look after himself. I have offered advice, I have offered to pay for rehab (god knows how though).

I have offered to help to pay for six months’ rent if he gets clean BUT he refuses all of this. I have bought him clothes and food and household items and given him money to pay bills when he did have a roof over his head.

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I have asked him to talk to me about where I went wrong, how I could have done things differently, I have apologised for my failings to him as a mother.

I have begged him to stop drugs, I have sent him pictures to remind him of the life he used to have.

I have taken the advice of the drug support agencies who told me not to enable him by giving him money as it would only go on drugs. I have done all this and still my son would rather life on the streets of Cardiff. WHY?????

The desperate mum has resigned herself to the fact drugs will eventually kill her son but wants him home and clean by next Christmas. Stock image (Image: MEDIA WALES)

My son is a drug addict. Addicts need their fixes by the hour and day. They cannot think long term. They cannot face reality. They take drugs to make them feel better.

So when you give my son clothes you are keeping him warm for that day and the next. When you give my son food you are feeding him for that day and the next. When you give my son money you are feeding his drug habit for that day and the next.

But none of this will help him in the long term as none of these are a long term fix. You are in effect helping my son to meet his short term needs with quick fixes.

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So whilst you are all kindly meeting his short term fixes you are actually enabling my son to continue using drugs. You are keeping the heat in his body and fuel in his tummy. This makes him feel good which then means that he can then go and take his drugs. Drug addicts have to hit rock bottom.

I was with my son a few weeks again when he hit rock bottom. It was a Saturday so of course all the relevant services were closed. He was feeling ill and was throwing up in the street and he was cold.

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He cried when I spoke to him and explained that he needed to get of the drugs and his family would support him and he could have a roof over his head. I tried to get him a roof over his head away from Cardiff with an organisation but his window of rock bottom didn't last long and he has now refused my offer of help.

His phone is dead and he hasn't spoken to me in a few weeks. If you feed and clothe him you take away those sunken feelings.

So whilst you think you could be saving him from dying of starvation or hypothermia you are actually making it more likely that you could be prolonging his drug use and he will die from his drug use.